Watts Flats was a station in Chautauqua County on the Erie Railroad‘s Meadville line. It was originally named “Panama” and changed to “Watts Flats” between 1870 and 1875. The original routing of the line, shown in the 1881 map above, brought it through the village of Watts Flats. Around 1909 the Erie straightened the line, moving it about a 1/2 mile to the west of the village.
I don’t have any photos of the station or other information about it. An 1870 inventory of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad listed the following structures and items in Panama:
Passenger and Freight Depot, 18×60, good new frame building and painted
Tank House, 24×24, new and good, gravity
Hand Car House, good, frame and painted
184 cords of wood
An 1875 inventory of the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad described the following structures at Watts Flats:
Depot—50×16, Frame, needs painting, shingle roof, stone foundation; one Passenger, Freight, and Office Rooms; the Passenger and Office Rooms are in bad condition, need plastering.
2984 square feet of Platform, upon wood foundation, in fair condition.
100×24 Wood Shed, unenclosed, upon stone foundation, in good repair.
Water Station—24×24, Frame, needs painting, stone foundation, shingle roof. Tub 16×16, Gravity ; Wooden pipe one mile.
10×12 Hand Car House, good.
The same document noted that the A&GW previously had a station named “Panama,” which was then called Watts Flats.
An 1884 inspection report of the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad by the New York State Railroad Commissioners stated that “Ashville, Watts Flats and Grant, are small depots, in fair order, and cleanly kept.” An 1886 report noted that “Arkville, Watts Flats, Grant, Kennedy, and Steamburg have frame passenger buildings, somewhat small, and in one or two instances out of repair.”
A 1901 inspection report noted that the Erie Railroad had constructed a 2,535-foot-long passing siding at Watts Flats.
The line was operated by the Atlantic and Great Western Railroad (1861 – 1880), the New York, Pennsylvania and Ohio Railroad (1880 – 1883), the New York, Lake Erie and Western Railroad (1883 – 1895), the Erie Railroad (1895 – 1960), the Erie Lackawanna Railroad (1960 – 1976), and the Consolidated Rail Corporation (Conrail).
Clippings
Timetables
